All items · Bedding & textiles
Used underwear and swimwear
Also covers: pants, knickers, bras, swimsuit
Why shops refuse it
Hygiene — though new-with-tags underwear is fine, and several charities do accept bras in any condition for reuse schemes.
What to do instead
Bras are wanted by specialist recycling schemes; other used underwear goes in textile recycling banks.
Charity by charity
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Can't accept
British Heart Foundation
Accepted only if it has a hygiene strip.
Their wording
“Worn underwear or swimwear without hygiene strip”
-
Can't accept
Cancer Research UK
New items can be sold.
Their wording
“Used swimwear or underwear”
-
Can't accept
Great Western Air Ambulance Charity
Their wording
“Used undergarments”
-
Can't accept
Save the Children
Page excludes underwear generally, not only used items.
Their wording
“underwear”
-
Can't accept
Shelter
Underwear/pyjamas need new tags; swimwear needs new tags plus a hygiene strip.
Their wording
“underwear or pyjamas without new tags”
-
Check first
Dorothy House
Underwear and socks must be brand-new with tags
Their wording
“Donated underwear and socks must be brand-new with tags.”
-
Check first
Shaw Trust
Only accepted with hygiene strips attached.
Their wording
“used underwear/swimwear without hygiene strips”
-
Check first
Trinity Hospice (Blackpool)
Underwear/socks only if brand new with tags; swimwear only if new with sanitary seal intact
Their wording
“unless brand new and labelled/with tags”
Not mentioned in 36 charities' guidance
Absence from a charity's list doesn't mean they accept it — it just isn't singled out. Ask your local shop.
- Not mentioned Acorns Children's Hospice
- Not mentioned Age UK
- Not mentioned Barnardo's
- Not mentioned British Red Cross
- Not mentioned Claire House Children's Hospice
- Not mentioned Cornwall Hospice Care
- Not mentioned Crisis
- Not mentioned DEBRA
- Not mentioned Dogs Trust
- Not mentioned Emmaus
- Not mentioned FARA Charity Shops
- Not mentioned Keech Hospice Care
- Not mentioned LOROS Hospice
- Not mentioned Marie Curie
- Not mentioned Octavia Foundation
- Not mentioned Overgate Hospice
- Not mentioned Oxfam
- Not mentioned PDSA
- Not mentioned Phyllis Tuckwell
- Not mentioned Princess Alice Hospice
- Not mentioned Salvation Army (SATCoL)
- Not mentioned Samaritans
- Not mentioned Scope
- Not mentioned Sense Scotland
- Not mentioned St Barnabas Hospice (Lincolnshire)
- Not mentioned St Christopher's Hospice
- Not mentioned St Giles Hospice
- Not mentioned St Peter's Hospice
- Not mentioned St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP)
- Not mentioned Sue Ryder
- Not mentioned The Children's Trust
- Not mentioned Traid
- Not mentioned Wales Air Ambulance
- Not mentioned Willen Hospice
- Not mentioned Woodgreen Pets Charity
- Not mentioned YMCA (England & Wales)